TFFS 2026: Spi (2025)

As part of Taiwan Film Festival in Scotland 2026: From the Mountain, From the Sea, we are delighted to present the UK Premiere of Spi (烤火房的一些夢), directed by Sayun Simung.

Following the death of their grandfather, a Tayal family confronts emotional and spiritual rupture. Estranged from Gaga, the ancestral ethical system that connects people to their community, ancestors, and environment, they struggle to navigate the cultural fractures shaped by assimilation and modern life. As family members search for ways to reconnect with their heritage, the film traces a deeply personal journey of remembrance, belonging, and cultural continuity.

Blending intimate family storytelling with reflections on Indigenous identity, Spi offers a moving portrait of what it means to inherit tradition in a rapidly changing world. Rooted in Tayal ways of knowing while addressing universal experiences of loss and homecoming, the film explores how people carry memory, culture, and spirit across generations.

UK Premiere

Age Guidance: PG

Content Advisory: Themes of bereavement, grief, and cultural identity.

*This screnning features an online Q&A with director Sayun Simung.

*This event is funded by the Ferguson Bequest. Professor Thomas Ferguson (1900–1977), Henry Mechan Chair of Public Health (1944–64), bequeathed his estate to the University with the instruction that it should be used to “foster the social side of University life”.